TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You – S2 12 (Fin) – Morning Toast

As some point in the past when she’s a young woman, and in the present, Tokiko admires Chekhov’s Moon Rock in the case in her home, then and now looking somewhat weary.

The morning after Tsukasa and Nasa’s reception, she joins Nasa to watch the sun come up over fancy toast from Ginza and French butter. Nasa remarks how Tokiko’s particular way of doing things reminds him of his wife.

Tokiko seems to want to tell Nasa something important—perhaps about that rock—but Tsukasa interrupts, having been roused from that giant glamping bed by the heavenly aroma of toast.

Back home, Nasa informs Tsukasa that his apartment building has nearly been completed, which means they’ll be moving out of the spare room soon. They visit the place, which is bigger and more modern. His new apartment will also have a bathtub, something Tsukasa approves of until she recalls what that means for the two of them, then she blushes.

When Kaname hears the two are moving, she accuses Nasa of being a pervert and horndog, while she’s the one who jokes about wanting to peek in at the couple messing around. In truth, she’ll be lonely if they’re not there. Tsukasa assures her she’ll still see plenty of them both: she’ll keep working the front desk of the bathhouse, while Nasa will keep using the room as an office.

That night while on a stroll, Nasa hugs Tsukasa, and she uses the opportunity to be honest and forthright with her husband: his hugs suck. His tendency to position his arms around her waist puts her in an uncomfortable longcat position.

After drawing some diagrams on a rhetorical chalkboard, she gives him an example of the right way to hug someone shorter than him: by keeping his arms up around her shoulders. She in turn can pull him in closer; Nasa marvels at how much better a fit this hug is.

When it’s Nasa’s turn to be upfront, he asks permission to move Tsukasa back to the futon and adjust her pajamas, but Tsukasa angrily rejects the notion that she’s a messy sleeper, even though she’s the messiest. That said, if these are the things these two fight about, they’ll be fine.

Nasa is pondering photographing Tsukasa in her messy sleeping state the next morning, but she gets a call from Chitose: Tokiko fell. They visit her in the hospital where she’s well on the mend and in good spirits. When she excuses herself to go to the bathroom and grab a coffee, Nasa follows, leaving Tsukasa to play Tokiko’s super-difficult handheld video game.

On the hospital’s roof, Nasa asks Tokiko if she’s really okay, having noticed a change in her gait from the camping trip. He also brings up what she wanted to talk about. Tokiko doesn’t go into great detail here unfortunately, but she does give Nasa her moon rock.

She calls Tsukasa a “normal girl” and the rock “just a rock”, but it’s clear she cherishes both, and now she knows Nasa is the right person for Tsukasa to share her long, long life with. Tsukasa had told Tokiko to live her own life, but she’d hesitated to do so. Now she can do so without worry. Tsukasa is in good, kind hands that will never let her go.

TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You – S2 11 – The Light That Never Fades

Tsukasa, Nasa, and their assembled friends are treated to a sumptuous BBQ that spares no expense. But Tokiko confesses there’s something she wants the happy couple to indulge her in as payment. Turns out this is a surprise wedding reception! 

With technical help from Nakiri, Kaname produced a video using totally unrelated photos of Tsukasa and Nasa to tell the story of how they met and got married. When asked to take the stage and give a speech, an initially nervous Nasa rises to the occasion, as expected.

After his speech, Kaname has a wedding cake rolled out, and fits Tsukasa with a veil, a single item that instantly makes her look like a bride. After cutting and eating the cake, Nasa gives everyone a tour of the night sky, demonstrating his encyclopedic knowledge of stars and constellations.

Knowing that this might be a bit dry for some (like Aya) Tsukasa breaks out the fireworks. Chitose is the only one who doesn’t take the bait, but Kaname still ensures Tsukasa and Nasa get some alone time. Before that, however, Tokiko takes Nasa aside.

In casually asking him about how married life is, she also apologizes for being the one who asked Tsukasa to wait two years before reuniting with him. That said, the fact he waited for her proved to Tokiko that Nasa was indeed the person to make Tsukasa’s longstanding wish come true.

With that, Nasa wanders to the waterside, where Tsukasa is resplendent in the light of the full moon positioned directly above Fuji-san. Tokiko told Nasa to ask Tsukasa about what she thinks about why people get married, so he does, and Tsukasa doesn’t disappoint.

She may be incredibly long-lived, but in that time she knows that everyone (else) eventually dies, no matter how rich or famous or accomplished they become in life. She’s seen it over and over again.

That said, she believes people get married because unlike their lives, their love is something eternal and enduring. So it is with Tsukasa and Nasa. She may well outlive Nasa, but their marriage transcends mortal bonds. It’s a light that will never fade.

With that sweet, beautiful, romantic sentiment expressed, the two retire to the special secluded glamping tent Kaname had prepared for them. In this tent is a gigantic king-size bed, and under the circumstances, Nasa wants to fool around with his wife. It’s only natural; the night felt like the reception to their wedding for which they never had a public ceremony.

A wedding night is classically the time when a wedding gets consummated, but with all his book smarts and cleverness, Nasa laments that there’s no surefire manual or guide for inviting one’s wife to the bed. So instead, like countless other couples before them, they’ll simply have to bashfully figure it out on the fly.

TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You – S2 10 – A Matter of Trust

While napping on the tatami, Nasa remembers the night he met Tsukasa. He remains glad he was able to so quickly agree to her offer to go out with him if they got married. If Tsukasa is some kind of immortal goddess, you could say he formed a contract with her that night, though as far as he knows she’s just a normal human girl.

Despite her insistence that they can gaze at the stars from atop a skyscraper in the city, Nasa accepts Tokiko’s offer of a camping trip, and the whole gang decides to join them. Nasa remarks that it’s almost like the wedding reception they never had. Also, Tsukasa may be a ninja.

The calming, intimate environment puts Nasa in the mood, but Tsukasa is worried about being seen—justifiably so, as Tokiko suddenly appears in their apparently secluded spot. She encourages the couple to do what married couples do when their alone, and is reproached by Tsukasa in an aggressive manner that again suggests talking to someone younger than her.

When lil’ Kyuuma gets lost (though it’s later revealed she actually just went to the bathroom), everyone fans out to look for her, and Nasa ends up lost himself. When falls asleep on a comfy flat rock, and again remembers the first night he met Tsukasa.

When she wakes him up and he brings up that night, she comments him for having answered her unusual request so quickly and decisively. It meant he truly trusted her, and enabled her to trust him. He explains that he was able to answer so quickly because he was overjoyed that she turned his way. That’s all it took.

These last two episodes have been slowly peeling back the layers of the onion that is Yuzaki Tsukasa. We’ll see if the show delves all the way down to the core of who and what she is, or hold fast with the partial answers we have and trust us to accept that some mysteries are best left preserved.

TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You – S2 09 – Red Ginger Piled High

Tsukasa’s mysterious (and long) past is always something out there on the margins, adding depth and mystique to what is otherwise an  exemplary slice-of-life rom-com. But sometimes that mystery is brought to the foreground, like this week’s stinger, in which Tokiko is just a little girl wandering what looks like the aftermath of boming during WWII.

A pretty lady offers her some ohagi. That lady looks just like Tsukasa. Take that for what you will, because I almost got thematic whiplash from the following segment, in which Nasa helps Tsukasa with little tehnology issues. I like how he makes it clear she’s amazing, and he finds the rare instances where something does fluster her justifiably endearing.

In the next segment (this episode is a bit of a grab bag) we check in on Yanagi-sensei, who is preparing to marry Taniguchi-sensei. Tsukasa and Nasa aren’t surprised, since they happened to see the happy couple messing around in the park. But Yanagi has a dilemma, and it involves, of all things, red ginger on her beef bowls.

When Taniguchi piled red ginger sky-high on his bowl, it threw Yanagi off, but he did it so that there would be no secrets in their relationship. He also wanted her to avoid his fate (apparently it’s not that good, but you can’t help but do it every time after doing it once) and remain “normal”, but when she had a solo bowl she piled on the red ginger, and now she’s one of them.

So basically Yanagi is panicking because the Yanagi Taniguchi fell for and asked to marry wasn’t the Yanagi she is now, who piles her red ginger high. Nasa at least tries to engage with Yanagi’s “problem”, but Tsukasa tries a lot less. She rightfully clocks this as the nonsense it is. If this is the most she has to worry about, she and Taniguchi are going to be very happy together.

Next up, FAT NASA! All those delicious home-cooked meals from Tsukasa, combined with working long hours on his laptop and not exercising a lot has left Nasa in awful (for him) shape. Even more frustrating, Tsukasa has the same diet but remains slim and fit.

The detail-oriented Nasa puts a laser-focus on getting back into shape fast, going on a diet and running ten kilometers a day. But he has very little stamina, at least early on, enabling Tsukasa to easily overtake him. He can’t even do a chin-up at the park.

Nasa tells Tsukasa he wants to be strong enough to protect her, but she reminds him that she saved him that night, and is perfectly capable of not only protecting herself, but her darling as well. She steals his line, but he accepts it, as he’s in no fit shape to dispute it!

Finally, Nasa prepares some cold noodles for dinner (something I’ve gotta try sometime this summer), and Tokiko appears at their table. She goads them into going on a camping trip with her, then leaves a gift behind. Throughout their interactions Tsukasa treats the elderly woman more like a kid sister than anything else.

Of course, that happens to be true. Despite her youthful looks, Tsukasa is older than Tokiko, while the gift is ohagi, the same thing she offered Tokiko when she was at her lowest point. So yes, Tsukasa is extremely long-lived, possibly ageless, and may even be a immortal supernatural being. But she’s also an amazing and cute-as-hell wife! She can be both!

TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You – S2 08 – Spousal Quality Time

When Tsukasa asks if Nasa loves her, he says of course he does, but later wonders if he said the right thing. Kaname tells him his wife was likely looking for more than his verbal assent. If a cat jumps in your lap, you pet it. If a plant needs water, you water it.

Realizing he should be expressing his love to Tsukasa more, Nasa also concedes that there’s not a super-elegant way to just suddenly start doing it, such as when he calls her cute as always the moment she wakes up.

Nasa decides to read shojo manga to get into the proper state of mind to provide casual compliments to Tsukasa. However, he finds them so entertaining he can’t stop reading. Meanwhile, Tsukasa enjoys messing with Nasa when he gets so focused on something.

When she asks him what brought on all the manga reading, he eventually comes clean (after a kiss) that he’s trying to learn how to casually convey how much he loves her. He says he loves her most in the universe, which has her happily humming while at work cleaning the baths.

Speaking of baths, Nasa is taking one when Kaname helps herself into the men’s side. She’s not trying to sneak a peak; rather she’s there to inform him that Tsukasa is alone on the women’s side and he can join her if he wishes—the bath is closed and they’re married, after all.

Neither Nasa nor Tsukasa are opposed to this idea, even if they’re both very bashful about it. But once the lights are out, they’re back together in the bath for the first time since their honeymoon. Only this time the water is a lot clearer.

It’s all good in the hood for Nasa, who believes married couples getting along is good, and crucial, to world peace. They’re saving the world by being lovable dorks, all right?! Things literally get steamier when the two move to the sauna.

There, Nasa learns that Tsukasa is total sauna fanatic, taking the bodily challenge of enduring the heat as long as possible very seriously. Having been to Russian sauna several times, I can attest to the need to allow at least three minutes for one’s body to get used to the temperatures.

Nasa endures more than he thought possible for his wife’s sake, and when they start to fool around a little and agree that it wouldn’t be the worst thing if her towel were to fall off, a bloodcurdling scream comes from the men’s bath, where Aya encountered Ginga, who had fallen asleep.

Even so, thanks to Kaname’s assistance and their own determination and love for one anoher, Tsukasa and Nasa continue to take meaningful steps towards being more and more physically comfortable with each other.

TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You – S2 07 – Staying Cool In a Bigger World

When the summer heat arrives, Tsukasa and Nasa realize that the air conditioner in their little home doesn’t work at all. Nasa naturally knows enough about air conditioners to quickly pick one out, get it delivered same-day, and install it.

He needs to borrow some tools from an old friend from middle school, Nakiri Ouka. As Tsukasa learns, Nakiri quite pretty herself, but she’s so shocked by the news that Nasa married, her reaction is extremely, rudely, hilariously delayed.

With the new A/C installed, Tsukasa and Nasa kiss and go to bed, but Tsukasa feels it’s too hot, so Nasa sets it to stay on for an hour. When 26 degrees ends up being too cold for both, he ups the temperature to 28 degrees.

When he does this, he sees that it’s still a bit too warm for Tsukasa, who has pushed away her covers in her sleep, so he lowers it to 27. Then Tsukasa wakes up, tells Nasa she loves him, and kisses him. Since this heats them both up, they reduce the temperature down to 26.5.

The next segment has nothing to do with air conditioning or temperature compromises, but involves a new character voiced by Kuno Misaki: Kagami Kyuuma. Kyuuma is a beautiful but presumptuous girl who is a bit of a space cadet.

When Kaname isn’t around, she pretends Tsukasa is Kaname, even asking if she’ll put her hair in pigtails. Tsukasa is put off by how pushy and odd Kyuuma is, but her opinion softens when Kaname arrives, Kyuuma rushes out to buy ice cream for them both, and Nasa reveals he knows her too.

Kaname all but admits she puts up with Kyuuma’s weirdness because she’s cute, but she’s also capable of kindness.

Finally, when Nasa returns to Nakiri’s to return the tools she lent him, she asks him about what’s good about married life. He tells her how his wife smells great, how she drinks warm water, and how being married has expanded his world immeasurably.

This all sounds great to Nakiri…who then starts thinking favorably about getting a wife of her own! We’ll see if he and Tsukasa end up inspiring Nakiri, like they did his former teacher, to expand her world too.

TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You – S2 06 – Completely Unproblematic

Nasa checks out a manga at the hot spring that involves a hot spring scenario, but finds no advice there. He and Tsukasa aren’t high schoolers, nor are they trying to date—they’re freakin’ married. Being in the same bath together is totally unproblematic. And yet, their tour in yukata the next day is weighed down a little by the elephant in the room: Chekhov’s private bath. That bath that is just for them is in their room and it’s not going anywhere!

Nasa puts feelers out by asking if Tsukasa wants to go to a different public mixed bath in Kusatsu, and she says she’d prefer another bath. The question “Want to get in the bath together” feels like an altogether insurmountable hurdle for Nasa. But after a sumptuous feast, Nasa displays admirable gumption and manliness by putting the question to Tsukasa, albeit with a strange look on his face. Tsukasa doesn’t react like the manga character. She reacts like his cute, albeit bashful wife.

She’s fine sharing the bath with him, provided he gets in first, and she turns out the lights so he doesn’t see too much. But it does happen: Tsukasa disrobes and gets into the bath naked with Nasa, who is enchanted by how she’s lit by the moon. When he says “the moon looks beautiful” in that way that really means “I love you”, Tsukasa asks him to say it normally. He does, and in return he has her say it too. Nasa remarks how cute she is when she’s embarrassed, and in retribution, she splashes him.

The next day, Tokiko sees the two of them off, and when Nasa takes Tsukasa’s hand in his, it feels very warm. He suspects it’s because they were in the hot spring, but Tsukasa corrects him: she gets excited when he touches her. On the train ride home, having gotten closer as a couple now that they’ve been naked together, they resolve to have more fun adventures and make more happy memories. Which is all fine by me!

TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You – S2 05 – Tepid Springs

Kaname and Aya’s mom makes a rare appearance to offer tickets to a hot spring vacation, which Kaname gives to Nasa so he and Tsukasa can finally have a proper honeymoon. When he brings it up, Tsukasa turns beet red, but admits that since they are married, they might as well go. That said, the prospect of spending a weekend all alone together at a hot spring keeps Tsukasa and Nasa in a near constant state of nervousness/bashfulness.

While checking in, Tsukasa wonders how her husband is handling this so well, and we get our answer when they part ways to go to the gender-segregated baths: he doesn’t feel nervous because this all feels like a dream that’s too good to be true. That said, it’s a bit disappointing that the two don’t so much as dip a toe in their private open-air bath. They do know that a honeymoon is mostly about spending time together, right?

With Tsukasa and Nasa out, Kaname seeks entertainment through Aya and Chitose, who she has fitted out in swimsuits so she can have fun with the hose. While I get Kaname’s desire to have a real “bathhouse episode”, their scene feels like padding, and takes away from what should be the focus of the episode: the main couple.

It’s actually a little shocking how little time Tsukasa and Nasa spend together once they arrive at the hot spring. Nasa gets ensnared by an old lady in need who messes up his schedule of researching and planning the best darn town visit possible. But Nasa is so nice he simply can’t not help the lady find the front desk, or her room, or engage in discussion about marriage.

It turns out this old lady is Chitose’s grandmother, Tsukuyomi Tokiko, who was a witness for his and Tsukasa’s marriage. Tsukasa isn’t the least bit happy to see her, and scolds her for “tricking” Nasa. Still, Tokiko is glad Tsukasa found and married someone as kind and sweet as Nasa, and even looks up at the moon wistfully and says he may be able to do “what nobody else has been able to all these years”.

While her moonward gaze and Tsukasa’s blank reaction suggest a secret about the latter’s past, I still feel like this episode was meandering and ultimately a wasted opportunity for Tsukasa and Nasa to grow closer as a married couple. I was heartened to hear Chitose wouldn’t be stalking Tsukasa, only for Tokiko to show up and be a third wheel anyway.

The preview indicates the hot spring honeymoon will continue next week, so all hope for Tsukasa and Nasa to have a good time together on their own is not lost.

TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You – S2 04 – The Kiss List

One of the many reasons Tsukasa loves Nasa so much is that he’s extremely reliable. He may not be the strongest guy, but whether it’s fixing Kaname’s vacuum or helping Aya avoid failing the year at high school, he earnestly helps out those in need without any thought of getting anything in return. He’s also modest, grateful to and respectful of those who came before him, like the great minds who developed the math he’s teaching the somewhat less great-minded Aya.

After preparing some worksheets that will help Aya with self-study, Nasa goes on to work on a project for a vtuber friend. Tsukasa can see that he must be stiff from sitting cross-legged and typing for such an extended time, so she insists her husband lie down so she can give him a massage.

Nasa admits this is his first massage, which makes Tsukasa happy since “she’ll be his first”. She’s also quite good. Not only does Nasa feel great because his muscles and joints are being taken care of, he also feels another kind of way that a husband feels when his wife is touching him.

He wants Tsukasa to feel good too, so when she’s done, Nasa insists she have a seat so he can massage her. She’s nervous, so only allows him to give her a shoulder massage, as long as he’s gentle. Nasa realizes he’s never touched his wife in this way, and that he feels just as good massaging her as he felt when she massaged him.

As we know Tsukasa and Nasa are not the most physically intimate couple, and a lot of the, shall we say, physical activities in which most loving couples engage both before or after marriage, don’t come easily. That said, day by day, little by little, they are becoming more comfortable with each other. That has a lot to do with how kind they know each other to be.

It’s ultimately Kaname’s conniving that jump-starts their physicality, as one day out of the blue she rudly asks Nasa how many times he and Tsukasa kiss and do it per day. She also informs him she’s been diving into the depths of blue YouTube, something I’m sure Nasa doesn’t want her talking about.

However, when Kaname produces a list she wrote up that indicates the various meanings of kisses to different parts of the body. Neck, ear, hand, hair…each kiss sends a different message. While Nasa isn’t comfortable discussing this with Kaname, he also doesn’t refuse the list she prepared.

That list makes Nasa’s subsequent interactions with Tsukasa a little tenser than usual, since he can’t un-read the list, and thus knows what he’d be “saying” to Tsukasa were he to kiss her here or there. When the two go out for an evening stroll after a grocery run, she catches him smelling her hair as it flows in the night air.

Tsukasa tells him he can touch her hair if he wants, so he does, though she’s a little weary of being seen out in the open. Nasa assures them it’s dark and “should be fine”, so the hair-touching commences. It’s interrupted when the two spot Yanagi-sensei with Taniguchi-sensei, who have clearly hit it off since they’re now going on evening strolls…and kissing.

When the bashful couple returns home, Tsukasa is given some green grapes by Kaname…along with the list of kisses. Nasa decides to use the opportunity to kiss her on the throat, indicating need. She counters with a kiss to the ear: seduction.

Gradually, the two start making out by kissing various parts of their bodies—while remaining fully clothed, and without getting too amorous, mind you! It’s cute as hell, and precisely the kind of stready yet significant progress one would expect of a couple still feeling their way though that aspect of their marriage.

TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You – S2 03 – Yanagi Brilliant Park

Ginga gave Nasa and Tsukasa day passes for the Muffy Land theme park, and Tsukasa is serious about having the best time possible. Tsukasa has been there before in his youth, so he’s hoping the park won’t disappoint. Things look grim when it’s raining the day of their trip, but Tsukasa finds a silver lining: adorable raincoats!

Nasa didn’t have to worry about the park coming up short, as Tsukasa is having a blast, from the haunted house to the Star Wars-esque rides (naturally she’s watched all the episodes). But the biggest attraction of all turns out to be Yanagi-sensei and her co-worker Taniguchi-sensei. It quickly becomes apparent Taniguchi didn’t “win” tickets, but just used that as an excuse to take Yanagi somewhere because he likes her.

That said, Yanagi is oblivious, thinking Taniguchi is just being nice because she doesn’t get out much. Tsukasa and Nasa make for a great soccer commentary pair in this little rom-com within the episode. Yanagi ends up scoring the first big “goal” by taking Taniguchi’s hand when they go on the scary ride. Nasa also learns a lot from Tsukasa’s perceptiveness that he’s possibly not as perceptive as he thought!

When an opportunity comes for Taniguchi to reveal his intentions (Yanagi comes right out and asks why he brought her to a place where people go on dates and even get married), he is actually about to tell her, but a high schooler in the exact situation beats him to it with his date. He says he likes her, she suggests they go out, he agrees, and Bob’s your uncle! Taniguchi is mortified, but notes that Yanagi found the exchange compelling.

Taniguchi may have hit the post on this try, but the beauty of a theme park is the opportunities keep coming, so he suggests they go get some lunch. Tsukasa and Nasa do the same, and Tsukasa decides to make a romantic game of it: who can make the better plate of the other’s favorite foods from the buffet? Tsukasa naturally nails it, and is almost telepathic in knowing Nasa probably put the curry next to the cakes, but it doesn’t matter. They’re both winners of this adorable game!

Throughout all of this, Chitose is shadowing Tsukasa and Nasa with Charlotte and Aurora in tow. However, at this point Chitose is resigned to the fact Tsukasa is in a committed marriage and isn’t interested in meddling, only observing. Along the way she and the maids have a lovely time at the park together, with large swaths of completely losing track of their targets. Call it Chitose’s deredere side simply wanting to bask a little in the marital bliss…and sink into the park mascot Muffy’s fluffy fluffy white fur.

When the nightly parade and fireworks take place, it’s Yanagi who ends up making the first move, telling Taniguchi what a fun time she had. When Taniguchi says he feels the same, Yanagi absent-mindedly asks if they should then get married, taking a page from her former student’s own remarkably efficient romance. She shakes it off, and explains that things just felt really comfortable and right today. They just make sense.

To that, Yanagi finally grows a pair, tenderly takes her hands in his, and just as a firework explodes above them, tells her he likes her. It’s just a sweet-as-hell moment. I was prepared for so many more episodes of will-they-won’t-they, but Tsukasa and Nasa helped paved the way for Yanagi to get out there, mix it up, and find a special someone. In this she was successful almost beyond belief … and almost as if Tsukasa and Nasa have a kind of cupid-like power to bring others together.

Three episodes in and we’re no closer to learning anything more about Tsukasa’s past teased in the OP, but just like last season, the need to learn more takes a back seat to enjoying her and Nasa, Yanagi and Taniguchi, and Chitose and the maids interact. Put simply, Tsukasa’s past is a bullet Tonikawa may never need to fire, should it choose not to. I’m almost leaning towards hoping the mystery remains just that!

TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You – S2 02 – Love You Can Taste

Yanagi’s class-wide grades have fallen since her top student Yuzaki Nasa left. But there’s nothing she can do about that, so she works as hard as she can to make up for the loss. That means giving all of herself to her job and declining dates from co-workers.

That night while buying ramen at the konbini, Yanagi-sensei happens to run into Nasa. When she sees the ring she immediately panics, assuming he’s been snatched up by some delinquent. But when Nasa takes her home to meet Tsukasa and they feed her her best dinner in months, Yanagi’s opinion of her changes drastically. Nasa and Tsukasa’s love is so intense and natural that it makes food taste better.

Another party initially unaware of Nasa’s nuptuals is Onimaru Ginga, who storms into the bathhouse demanding to know where Nasa is. Tsukasa goes on the defense, matching Ginga word for word in posturing and verbal sparring. Kaname is frightened of Ginga, but Tsukasa is scared of nothing and nobody, and a slow, painful death awaits anyone who’d hurt her Darling.

Fortunately, Ginga’s not only a nice guy, but Nasa’s younger cousin who followed him around like a lost puppy growing up. He admires Nasa, and with good reason: Nasa’s great! He’s also in high school, and the yakuza is a chuunibyou-like delusion, wherein every activity he describes sounds like crimes but is translated by Nasa to be perfectly harmless high school stuff, like trying to find a home for an abandoned kitten.

While the kitten is (understandably) freaked out and hostile, once the vet is done his checkup and the little guy has been cleaned and groomed, he settles down, and Nasa and Tsukasa agree to take him in for now (i.e., forever). Tsukasa names him Toast, since the blotch on his back resembles a pat of butter. Thus the Yuzaki family grows by one tiny fuzzy member.

TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You – S2 01 – Wedding Hell’s Bells

With a school dramedy seinen, a misfit school rom-com, and a college-age rom-com already on my list, did the Tonikawa sequel arrive too late to make the cut, even if we’re only in April’s single digits? Less than two minutes into this first episode, my answer was as clear and direct as Tsukasa’s when asked if she wants a wedding ceremony: Absolutely not.

Rather than being satisfied with the first season, I wanted more of Tsukasa and Nasa being the absolute cutest young newlywed couple on TV, and we get more here. They’re still living at the Arisugawa’s cozy guest house, and after Nasa wraps up his work stuff they go to a fancy movie theater.

The OP features a lot of scenes from Tsukasa’s past, and she may well be an immortal moon goddess in human form who has walked the earth since the days of the samurai … but at this point it’s almost part of the comedy that this is never addressed during the actual run of the show.

Tsukasa vividly envisioning a movie with flying sharks in the skies above a city and getting that “why the heck is this happening” vibe cheekily mirrored the experience of watching the OP of largely non-supernatural slice-of-life rom-com, which was one of the very best and most relaxing hangs of the season during its first run. Fun to think about, but not the focus of the show, at least not for now.

When talk of a wedding—as in, an actual formal wedding ceremony—is broached by Kaname (who wants a gondola and fireworks), Nasa asks Tsukasa about it during dinner, which is when she voices her vociferous lack of desire to go through such an ordeal. Turns out Nasa is hilariously ignorant to the cost and complexities of such events.

When Kaname drops by with an watermelon, she and Tsukasa experience the full extent of that ignorance, as Nasa assumes a wedding taking no longer than a week to prepare costing, oh, around $5,000. The thing is, that kind of is possible, as long as you’re creative and focused enough to avoid the all-too-easy pitfalls and excesses of traditional wedding planning.

In a way, Nasa’s lack of knowledge on orthodox ceremonies helps him stand out from everyone else who is simply overthinking things. They say a wedding is often not for the actual bride and groom, but for their family and friends. It’s what’s expected, not always what the couple actually wants.

While doing some ridiculously high-impact combat training in her courtyard, Chitose admits to her maids that if Tsukasa were to go through with a ceremony, she’d not only attend, but also not make any effort to ruin things. She wants Tsukasa to be happy, and also for her Gran to see Tsukasa in a wedding dress. Who wouldn’t?

After his evening bath, Nasa encounters Aya slacking off in the lounge with her handheld game, and she echoes a lot of Kaname’s sentiments about a wedding being a no-joke elaborate hassle-and-a-half. What’s funny is, while she’s aware weddings can take a year or more to plan, she’s not exactly quite sure why.

Enter Tsukasa back and refreshed from her bath, listing all the preliminary steps like invitations, RSVPs, seating charts, favors, et cetera, ad nauseum, e pluribus unum. The bottom line is, she’s not interested in all that effort. But Aya, no doubt wanting them to have the kind of wedding she’d want, tells them they won’t know if it’s worth it until they try.

That brings us to another generally-held conception among the populace—not just in Japan or America but everywhere—that the stress and complication is the point. It’s not just a celebration, but a trial by fire: if a bride and groom can get through their wedding, they’ll be well prepared adversity later in their marriage.

The wedding mag they obtain at the konbini is as thick as a phone book. Couples sometimes get into fights during wedding planning. But here’s the thing: Tsukasa just…rather wouldn’t? She likes things the way they are, all easy, breezy, and lovey-dovey. She loved the simple day she just had hanging out with her husband, and wouldn’t mind many more days like it.

Nasa, who was never particularly married to the idea of a wedding ceremony (no pun intended), is in full agreement that they table the wedding plans for now and take time to think about it. There’s every possibility they can also put their heads together and come up with a more scaled back, economical wedding that won’t take years or millions of yen to execute.

The couple then heads home, slips under the futon together, and have what might be the perfect ceremony for them, not anybody else. Reveling in the peace and relief that resulted by tabling more complex plans, they exchange quick and concise vows, affirming their love and dedication to one another, and kiss right there in the bed. Tsukasa may still don a wedding dress, but she’s perfectly fine with just Nasa seeing her in it, in private.

I’m proud of our newlywed kids for not falling down the rabbit hole of wedding planning hell, because at the end of the day it’s not for everyone and something no one should feel pressured into. I’m as content to watch their peaceful lovey-dovey lives as they are to live it. I’m also as unconcerned with their lack of ambition with wedding plans as I am with the show’s refusal to explain Tsukasa’s past. Mostly, I’m just glad Tsukasa, Nasa, and the gang are back!

TONIKAWA: Over the Moon For You – 13 – Love In the Time of LINE

It’s been over eight months since the last TONIKAWA but this extra OVA episode doesn’t skip a beat, delivering all of the notes that made the first twelve episodes so endearing and comforting, especially at the end of one of the worst years of many peoples’ lives. Things are going a bit better now, so it’s especially nice to check in on these two sweet young lovebirds in that context.

Tsukasa’s smartphone finally arrives, which means she’s finally arrived in the 21st century (though she still contemplates how much one could accomplish with a smartphone in the Sengoku era, one more hint that she’s either lived a very long time or carries the memories of past lives).

Something as simple as adding contacts is made much more profound as only one person in their address books can occupy the “spouse” category. But no sooner does she gain a smartphone (and LINE app) than she loses Nasa…if only for the day, as he’s summoned to his old work for a last-minute project.

Tsukasa goes in to work at the bathhouse, only to get bored and start wavering over whether to send Nasa a text or sticker. Aya doesn’t help matters by saying she’s sure he’ll message Tsukasa, since when he doesn’t do so all day, it only adds to her loneliness and anxiety.

While sitting out on the back patio after dark, she tries and fails to hold back tears despite knowing how ridiculous it is to be crying. But is it so ridiculous? Tsukasa and Nasa have been together—and close—for most of their married lives, and love each other dearly. So it’s no surprise that they both feel lonely.

That intensity of their love also makes it that much more satisfying and relieving when we finally hear that little alert sound and Nasa confirms he couldn’t use his phone while working. He misses her every bit as much as she misses him; smartphones or no, their hearts remain tightly connected.

When Nasa shambles home at four in the morning, he fully expects Tsukasa to be asleep, but she’s wide awake, having not been able to sleep “for some reason”. His futon is out, so they lie down together, and Tsukasa, still out of sorts from being without her darling for so long, takes the initiative for the first time by giving him a passionate goodnight kiss.

Nasa is wide awake at this point, contemplating how his wife suddenly seems more aggressive, only for Tsukasa to visit his futon and insist that he hold her tight. Now, I’m not saying they go on to make full-on love for the first time in that early morn, nor am I saying they don’t, but this is definitely the most hot and heavy we’ve seen them.

Even in the morning, with the couple’s faces beet red and smoking it’s not clear exactly how far the two went a few hours prior, but it is clear from Kaname that they “had fun” in the early morn. She’d love the details (as someone with a “sexy radish” as her LINE picture), but also knows these two well and how easily they’re embarrassed whenever they contemplate the prerogatives of their status as husband and wife.

Because this is a check-in OVA, we also check in on Chitose and her maids Aurora and Charlotte, the latter of whom was at the bathhouse and overheard about Tsukasa’s potentially fun night. Charlotte, despite being an adult, has no idea what that “fun” entailed.

After doing a coffee spit take Chitose tells her it’s “far more intense” than the horseplay she and Char get up to. Chitose demonstrates her growth from last season as she doesn’t immediately head to Tsukasa’s house to investigate/put a stop to it. After all, Tsukasa is married; it’s perfectly normal for things to get intense.

After a parting scene of Char teasing Aurora, who actualy would like to hold hands in bed, the standard credits roll. While a couple of decent romances like Horimiya showed up in Tonikawa’s wake, that series grew more scattered and disinterested in its main couple down the stretch. It was nice to be reminded how good, steady, and consistent Tonikawa always was, and how deftly it portrayed young love—or in Tsukasa’s case, very very old young love! XD